Woolly Mammoth Facts for Kids | Social Studies Printables

Interested in learning about woolly mammoths? This webpage contains woolly mammoth facts, mazes, coloring pages, and more! There’s something for everybody, whether you’re a young paleontologist or a history teacher looking for new ways to engage the classroom. Let’s take a look at the story of this fascinating prehistoric mammal.

Printable Woolly Mammoth Facts for Kids

For starters, here is a free printable fact sheet for kids. The handout covers when and where the woolly mammoth lived, its physical appearance, its relationship with humans, and its extinction.

Everything you need to know about woolly mammoths on one handy handout. A great teaching supplement for social studies teachers and homeschooling parents.

Here is the same handout in black and white, in case you’re a teacher and want to make several copies.

From the handout:

The woolly mammoth is an extinct species of mammoth that roamed northern Eurasia and North America during the last ice age, between 200,000 and 4,000 years ago. It coexisted with early humans, who used its bones and tusks to make art, tools, and shelter.

Woolly Mammoth Appearance

Woolly mammoths were adapted to survive the cold temperatures of the ice age. Their bodies were covered with fur, and their ears and tails were small to reduce the risk of frostbite. They had large domed heads, and their shoulder heights reached almost ten feet. Though male woolly mammoths could weigh up to 6 tons, they were smaller than earlier mammoth species.

The Mammoth Steppe

The woolly mammoth lived on the “mammoth steppe,” the area covering most of Europe, Asia, and the northern part of North America.

Mammoths and Humans

Woolly mammoths started to coexist with humans approximately 30,000 to 40,000 years ago. Humans hunted woolly mammoths, and scavenged their carcasses after they had been killed by other predators. Mammoth ivory was used by humans to make weapons, tools, and art objects. Their bones were used to make circular dwellings known as bone huts. It is unclear whether early humans ate woolly mammoth meat.

Extinction

Woolly mammoths went extinct about 4,000 years ago, mainly due to climate change, which led to the disappearance of their habitat. Hunting by humans may also have contributed to their extinction.

Printable Woolly Mammoth Maze for Kids

Help the young mammoth return to his herd. Be sure to avoid hunters and beasts!

Woolly Mammoth Coloring Pages

If you enjoy coloring, turn on your printer and print a copy of these free coloring pages.

Woolly Mammoth Drawing Activity

Use your imagination, a draw a cave painting on the stone wall in this “Complete the Picture” drawing activity.

Woolly Mammoth Fun Facts

The woolly mammoth’s closest living relative is the Asian Elephant.

The scientific name for the woolly mammoth is Mammuthus primigenius.

Though woolly mammoths looks similar to the American Mastodon, they are only distant relatives.

More than 500 cave paintings and engravings of woolly mammoths have been found in in Russia, France and Spain.